BEIJING: China’s state media rallied citizens on Wednesday for a “final victory” over Covid-19 as health officials abroad tried to work out the scale of its raging outbreak and how to stop it spreading.
Beijing’s abrupt axing of “zero Covid curbs last month has unleashed the virus on China’s 1.4 billion people who have little immunity after being shielded since the virus emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan three years ago.The World Health Organization holds a briefing in Geneva on Wednesday, a day after WHO officials met Chinese scientists amid concern about the accuracy of China’s data about the outbreak. The UN agency has yet to release details about its talks.
European Union health officials also meet on Wednesday to discuss a coordinated response to the China outbreak.
Many Chinese funeral homes and hospitals say they are overwhelmed, and international health experts predict at least 1 million deaths in China this year. China has reported five or fewer deaths a day since the policy U-turn.“That is totally ridiculous,” a 66-year-old Zhang, a Beijing resident who only gave his last name, said of the official toll.
“Four of my close relatives died. That’s only from one family. I hope the government will be honest with the people and the rest of the world about what’s really happened here.”
China’s cabinet said on Wednesday it would step up medicine distribution and meet demand from medical institutions, nursing homes and rural areas amid the outbreak, state media reported.
Beijing has hit back against some countries demanding visitors from China show pre-departure Covid tests, saying the rules were unreasonable and lacked a scientific basis.
Japan, the United States, Australia and several European states are among countries requiring such tests. — AFP
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